Why is it that some people seem to be good with money, even with just a little in their hands, they are able to multiply it. While there are those who have experienced a windfall of money, but still struggle to hold onto it for a long time.
You’ve heard this story before: someone wins the lottery or receives a large inheritance, only to lose it all in a few years time, ending up with more debt than ever before, or worse, filing for bankruptcy.
Mindset. A good money mindset.
The way we think about money impacts how we decide and act. What we decide and act upon with our money shape the design of our lives. Overtime, that’s how our lives are built naturally.
These books are the easiest way for you to improve and maintain a good money mindset.
In a hurry? Here are 2 of the very best money mindset books…
Choose Your Own Adventure
Explore the contents of this article and click on any heading to skip ahead…
Why Money Mindset Books Matter
I truly believe that this category of money books is, by far, THE most important. You can read any or all of the other types of money books and learn specific strategies for making money and getting rich. But if your mindset isn’t in the right place – it will all be useless information to you.
If you get your money mindset in the right place – the rest will come naturally easy! This is evidenced and proven in Napoleon Hill’s book – Think and Grow Rich. That is why it is listed as one of the top 2 money mindset books. It’s all about belief and confidence. If you can figure that stuff out pertaining to your money mindset – you will undoubtedly grow rich.
Money Mindset Books for Passive Income
Passive income can be achieved by following specific plans and implementing specific strategies. But, doing so is nearly impossible without the right money mindset. In other words, the best passive income ideas are worthless if your outlook on money isn’t in the right place.
Some of my favorite books of all time are included in this list of money mindset books for passive income. If you haven’t done so already – I highly recommend that you start by reading Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
Rich Dad Poor Dad (Robert Kiyosaki)
WHAT THE RICH TEACH THEIR KIDS ABOUT MONEY THAT THE POOR AND MIDDLE CLASS DO NOT!
Rich Dad Poor Dad is a book written by Robert Kiyosaki (with Sharon Lechter) that was first published in 1997. The book is about the authors’ perspectives on how to attain financial success. It advocates the importance of building assets, particularly through investing in stocks and real estate, rather than accumulating debt.
Rich Dad Poor Dad has been translated into more than 40 languages and has sold well over 26 million copies worldwide.
Quick Summary: The book is a personal finance book written from Robert Kiyosaki’s perspective. It’s about his two dads, one was his biological father who was poor and the other one was his friend’s father who was rich. He discusses how both of them raised him in different ways, which led to different outcomes in life.
The Rich Dad Poor Dad book is about the importance of financial literacy and teaches you how to escape the rat race and get rich with money. It also teaches you about passive income and getting out of debt, both of which are essential for any entrepreneur looking for success and riches.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“The rich don’t work for money.”
“If you’re going to be a person who has money, you might as well be rich”
“The rich make money. The poor and the middle class spend money. The rich don’t work for money. They know how to make money work for them.”
“If you’re not an optimist, you need to get the hell out of the way, because no one is going to do anything for you.”
HONORABLE MENTION
Another version of this popular book was written for teens – Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens – The Secrets About Money – That You Don’t Learn in School! This is essentially a slightly dumbed-down version of the original book – written in language and context better suitable for teens.
I highly recommend that you purchase this version for any teenager in your life. I have done exactly that for my kids as I plan to give them a headstart in life with a proper education on money that they won’t learn in school. My oldest son actually went on to read the full version of the original book, at age 12, after reading the teen version!
Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill)
THE LANDMARK BESTSELLER NOW REVISED AND UPDATED FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich is one of the most famous success books of all time. It has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. The book is about how to achieve success by following a set of principles, with the theme of the book being that thoughts are causative – they create things.
Hill was born in 1883, and he died in 1970. He had a long career as an author and lecturer, but he is best known for this one book that has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.
Some of the key takeaways from the book are:
- Develop a definite purpose in life
- Determine the amount of money you want to be worth
- Define what you want to do with your life
- Believe that you will succeed
- Act as if it were impossible to fail
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”
“Faith is a state of mind. We are what we think, so if we want to change our lives, we must change our thinking.”
“The starting point is not how much money you have, but how much you make each day.”
The Millionaire Fastlane (MJ DeMarco)
CRACK THE CODE TO WEALTH AND LIVE RICH FOR A LIFETIME!
MJ Demarco’s book, The Millionaire Fastlane is about how to get rich. It is not about how to make a lot of money, but how to make a lot of money without doing much work.
The book teaches the readers how to build passive income streams and live the life of their dreams. Self-made millionaire MJ Demarco talks about many ways to make money such as starting a blog, investing in real estate, and becoming an entrepreneur.
This book is not for those who are looking for get-rich-quick schemes or for those who want to be millionaires overnight. This book teaches you how to use a fast-track strategy to become a millionaire over time with consistent work and effort.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“To succeed in any business you need two things, knowledge and leverage. The knowledge is what you put in and the leverage is what you get out.”
“The rich focus on the things that matter, not the things that don’t.”
“The rich control their spending and find ways to make more money.”
The Richest Man in Babylon (George S. Clason)
The Success Secrets of the Ancients
The Richest Man in Babylon is a book that is written by George Clason, a United States Army veteran of the Spanish-American Wars. The book was first published in 1926 and it has been translated into more than 20 languages. Through Babylonian parables and stories, the book not only entertains but teaches the reader the basics of personal finance.
The book offers readers timeless lessons through engaging story telling of parables and tales embedded with practical wisdom on the fundamentals of money.
Practical money insights from the book include:
- How to acquire money
- How to keep the money acquired
- How to make the surplus money earn more money
Noteworthy lessons include the “Seven Cures for a Lean Purse” , a rule guide that puts emphasis on the importance of saving money by paying yourself first, living within one’s means, avoiding debt, investing wisely and giving generously to others.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“In those things toward which we exerted our best endeavors we succeeded.”
A man’s wealth is not in the purse he carries. A fat purse quickly empties if there is no golden stream to refill it.”
“If you have not acquired more than bare existence in the years since we were youths, it is because you either have failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth, or else you do not observe them.”
The Psychology of Money (Morgan Housel)
Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness
The Psychology of Money is a book by Morgan Housel that talks about the behavioral psychology behind money. It provides insights into how people make decisions and their emotional reactions to different things.
The author starts with the basics – why do people do crazy things with money? To answer this, he starts with the idea that people’s experiences in their generation help them decide what to do with their money. He also talks about how we are wired to decide about money in terms of many factors other than the numbers showing in a spreadsheet.
These are some of the reasons behind that are intertwined altogether to form one deciding factor about money.
- personal history
- unique worldview
- ego and pride
- marketing
- incentives
He then moves on to talk about different ways that we can break through these psychological barriers and save more money in the long run.
This book is written in an engaging and easy-to-understand style that will appeal to all audiences. Housel has succeeded in providing readers with the knowledge they need to make better financial decisions for themselves.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“Your personal experiences with money make up maybe 0.00000001% of what’s happened in the world, but maybe 80% of how you think the world works.”
“Luck an risks are siblings, they are both the reality that every outcome in life is guided by forces other than individual effort.”
“Building wealth has little to do with your income or investment returns, and lots to do with your savings rate.”
The Total Money Makeover (Dave Ramsey)
A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
The Total Money Makeover is a book written by Dave Ramsey. The book is about how to get out of debt, stay out of debt and building wealth. It is written in very simple language and provides practical steps that anyone can take to improve their financial situation.
The author starts the book by building a healthy money mindset for the reader and debunking myths about debt and money to help them build a solid financial plan.
The author follows through with “Save $1000 Fast,” which emphasizes the importance of building an emergency fund for the reader to gain confidence in taking small steps towards change.
Next, Ramsey suggests what he calls a “Debt Snowball”. The idea behind this is to pay off the debt with the lowest balance first (the snowball) so you can get that weight off your shoulders as soon as possible, then move onto the next one, and so on.
You’ll also read suggestions on finding ways to save money such as cutting down on what you spend which will help towards your financial freedom.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.”
“I am positive that personal finance is 80 percent behavior and only 20 percent head knowledge.”
“I have realized that to change your money thing, you have to change. You have to change your life. When you change your life, you will get out of debt, give, and invest at an unbelievable rate.”
The 4-Hour Work Week (Tim Ferriss)
Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
The 4-Hour Work Week is a book written by Timothy Ferriss. The book is about how to escape the 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich by using the power of internet as well as delegating everything that you don’t need to do yourself.
Tim’s 4-Hour Workweek is also a lifestyle that anyone can adopt. It doesn’t require you to be born rich, a graduate of an ivy league school, or have perfect genes. It requires you to be willing to think differently, outside the box.
This book is will help you understand more about lifestyle design and clear your doubts about the possibility of living a life of luxury and freedom. It’s also a tool that you can use in the present “now” to make escaping the 9-5 a reality instead of the slippery “I’ll only enjoy life when I retire”.
What’s unique and different about this book?
- it does not focus on the problem
- it does not recommend you to abandon your daily glass of red wine for 1 million dollars 50 years from now
- it is not about finding your “dream job”
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“Gold is getting old. The New Rich (NR) are those who abandon the deferred-life plan and create luxury lifestyles in the present using the currency of the New Rich: time and mobility. This is an art and a science we will refer to as Lifestyle Design (LD).
“Life doesn’t have to be so damn hard. It really doesn’t. Most people, my past self included, have spent too much time convincing themselves that life has to be hard, a resignation to the 9-to-5 drudgery in exchange for (sometimes) relaxing weekends and the occasional keep-it-short-or-get-fired vacation.”
“There is a way to get rewards for a life of hard work without waiting until the end.”
Principles (Ray Dalio)
Life and Work
Ray Dalio’s book Principles: Life and Work, offers both Dalio’s own experiences in his personal life and business, as well as practical advice for how readers can create their own personal success and economic security by developing their own principles to apply to each category in their life.
The book starts with an introduction to Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates and his life story. It then goes into his principles for how he lives and works.
These include: Be radically open-minded, build on other people’s ideas, learn from your mistakes quickly, think about the world as it is today and not as it was yesterday or will be tomorrow, learn from your losses but don’t dwell on them too much because it will paralyze you from taking risks again in the future.
The book is organized in a three-part collection of his thoughts and principles.
- Where Ray Dalio is coming from
- Life Principles
- Work Principles
Dalio also shares his journey, the trials that he has learned from over the course of his life. He argues that true success can only be achieved by embracing reality and thinking independently.
He also talks about how to lead and build a culture of radical transparency, how to create a meaningful life and how to achieve goals in almost any field.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“Time is like a river that carries us forward into encounters with reality that require us to make decisions. We can’t stop our movement down this river and we can’t avoid those encounters. We can only approach them in the best possible way.”
“Over the course of our lives, we make millions and millions of decisions that are essentially bets, some large and some small. It pays to think about how we make them because they are what ultimately determine the quality of our lives.”
“We are all born with different thinking abilities but we aren’t born with decision-making skills. We learn them from our encounters with reality.”
I Will Teach You to Be Rich (Ramit Sethi)
No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works
I Will Teach You to Be Rich is a New York Times bestseller book written by personal finance guru Ramit Sethi. He is considered to be the “new finance guru” and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNBC, Time Magazine, Fortune Magazine and NPR.
In his book, Ramit teaches the reader the basics of personal finance, such as how to create and stick to a budget, how to save money for emergencies, and how to invest. He also provides practical advice on topics like credit cards and debt. He encourages readers to take control of their money and direct it where they want it to go to live a rich life.
The author has set up a 6-week action step plan that can help the reader get started.
- Week 1 – Credit cards and debt payment
- Week 2 – The right bank accounts
- Week 3 – 401k and investment accounts
- Week 4 – Track Spending and Make your money go wherever you want
- Week 5 – Infrastructure automation
- Week 6 – Investing the easy way
Ramit’s advice is based on practicality and common sense rather than complex solutions. I Will Teach You To Be Rich is an excellent resource for anyone looking to learn how to use money to live a rich life.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“If you don’t consciously choose what “rich” means, It’s easy to end up mindlessly trying to keep up with your friends.”
“Basically, I want the credit card companies to hate you, as they hate me.”
“Don’t live in the spreadsheet. I encourage you to pick your financial system and move on with your life, which means not “living in the spreadsheet,” or obsessing over every tiny change in your spending and in the market.”
MONEY Master The Game (Tony Robbins)
7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom
In MONEY: Master The Game, Tony Robbins presents a clear and compelling plan for investing in today’s markets. He provides readers with the tools they need to survive and thrive in any market condition. Tony also dispels many common myths about money that are keeping people from getting ahead financially.
Tony Robbins is an entrepreneur who has spent his life studying the psychology of money. In this book he shares his insights on how to get it, keep it, grow it, and give back. He’s shares money solutions to his readers from what he has learned from the world’s most successful investors and the best behavioral economists.
The book starts with Tony’s strong encouragement that: It’s your money! It’s your life! Take Control. He talks about how money is a tool and a power source that we can have access to and control of, so we can use it to serve others and to make our lives better every day. He talks about how money is just a perception and an abstract concept. We can either master it or it can master us.
This book has been on the New York Times Best Sellers list for over a year. It has been translated into over 20 languages and it has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“The secret to wealth is simple: Find a way to do more for others than anyone else does.”
“What I’ve known from the beginning is that success leaves clues. People who succeed at the highest level are not lucky they’re doing something differently than everyone else does.”
“No matter where you live, if you don’t have another source of income, you could end up the best-dressed greeter at Walmart.”
The Millionaire Next Door (Thomas J. Stanley)
The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy
The Millionaire Next Door is a book by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and William D. Danko, Ph.D., that examines the common characteristics of people who live in affluent neighborhoods but are not really wealthy according to traditional standards.
It is a book about how most millionaires in America are not the high-society types that we often associate with wealth and success. Rather, they are ordinary people who have a strong work ethic, live below their means, and invest wisely.
The book starts with introducing the reader to the portrait of the millionaire next door. Their ordinary appearances, mundane lifestyle, and the simple character traits they possess that defy the stereotypes of fancy millionaires.
This book challenges many of the prevailing notions about how millionaires live and what they spend their money on—the size of their homes; the type of cars they drive; how much they spend on clothing; whether or not they’re philanthropic—and shows that there’s a much simpler formula for achieving wealth than most people realize.
The Millionaire Next Door is a must-read for anyone who wants to be a millionaire instead of just looking like one.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“We define wealthy differently. We do not define wealthy, affluent or rich in terms of material possessions.”
“Conversely, those people whom we define as being wealthy get much more pleasure from owning substantial amounts of appreciable assets than from displaying a high-consumption lifestyle.”
“Most people who become millionaires have confidence in their own abilities. They do not spend time worrying about whether or not their parents were wealthy.”
The Simple Path to Wealth (JL Collins)
Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life
The Simple Path to Wealth is a revolutionary book that started out from a blog by JL Collins. It provides a straightforward, no-frills investment philosophy that is written in a simple, humorous style that is both informative and enjoyable to read.
In this book, Collins shares what he learned from his experiences and provides actionable guidance on how you can simplify investing without the complexities of a financial advisor. The author also points out where the minefields are so the reader can avoid them.
He starts with a story of two different lifestyles, the parable of “The Monk and The Minister” to emphasize on the behaviors that compromise freedom for a certain level of comfort.
The Simple Path to Wealth is the simplest way to show people who want to be successful investors how to start. JL Collins’ first-hand experience will allow you a better understanding of what being a level-headed investor means without the complexities and more of the fun. It will also show you the map to a richer life.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“Complex investments exist only to profit those who create and sell them. Further, not only are they costly to the investor, they are less effective.”
“If your lifestyle matches—or god forbid exceeds—your income, you are no more than a gilded slave.”
“Avoid fiscally irresponsible people. Never marry one or otherwise give him or her access to your money.”
Tools of Titans (Timothy Ferriss)
The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers
Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines & Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers is a book by Timothy Ferriss that features interviews with more than 200 self-made billionaires, icons, and world-class performers.
Timothy Ferriss is an entrepreneur, author and public speaker. His first book, The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (2007) was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.
His book Tools of Titans is a collection of interviews with the world’s most successful people. The book is based on the idea that there are certain habits and rituals that people who live exceptionally healthy, happy and successful lives have in common.
The book consists of three sections:
- Healthy
- Wealthy
- Wise
In the first section, he talks about how to optimize your health by eating right and getting enough sleep. In the second section, he talks about how to get rich by learning from others’ success stories. Lastly, in the third section he talks about how to be wise by learning from others’ mistakes.
The author describes this book as a fun to read buffet and urges readers to only take in what interests them. He wants readers to “skip liberally” and expects the reader to discard plenty of ideas that seem unfit for their own needs.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“My goal is to learn things once and use them forever.”
“Success, however you define it, is achievable if you collect the right field-tested beliefs and habits.”
“The superheroes you have in your mind (idols, icons, titans, billionaires, etc.) are nearly all walking flaws who’ve maximized 1 or 2 strengths.”
The Science of Getting Rich (Wallace D. Wattles)
The Proven Mental Program To A Life Of Wealth
The Science of Getting Rich is a book written by Wallace D. Wattles and published in 1910. This book is a classic guide to wealth building and its philosophy of positive thinking has stood the test of time.
Wattles believes that an individual can create his or her own destiny through his or her thoughts, will, and efficient actions. The author makes the case that there is a science behind getting rich which is readily available to anyone willing take steps in the book.
The book starts with “The Right to be Rich”, in which the author believes there is no virtue in man playing small and that there is nothing wrong with man desiring riches and becoming rich. Wattles states that the object of all life is to move towards development and that it shows in the course of nature that goes towards advancement of all life.
Wattles invites the reader to take a leap of faith in following the steps in his book and assures the reader that the philosophies he has written have already been thoroughly tested and proven with the highest badge in practical experimentation.
This book is so significant because it introduced the idea of the law of attraction, which has been used by many people since the popularity of the book “The Secret.”
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“There are certain laws which govern the process of acquiring riches; once these laws are learned and obeyed by any man, he will get rich with mathematical certainty.”
“You may be the poorest man on the continent, and be deeply in debt; you may have neither friends, influence, nor resources, but if you begin to do things in this way, you must infallibly begin to get rich, for like causes must produce like effects.”
“You will see that it is a self-evident proposition that if you do not do any inefficient acts, and if you do a sufficient number of efficient acts, you will become rich.”
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind (T. Harv Eker)
Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker is a book about the way we think and how our thoughts affect our wealth. The author argues that what we think about determines the life we live and that if you want to change your life, you need to change your thoughts.
This book explains how an ingrained mental blueprint affects how we think and act when it comes to money and has a significant effect on our financial decisions.
It also offers key strategies outlined in a way that will reprogram your mental money blueprint, which includes 17 attitudes and actions to take that will ensure permanent changes in your financial future.
The book points out that by adopting a rich person’s mental blueprint, we are able to partake in the results that the rich achieve. The rich, middle-class and the less fortunate all have different mental blueprints when it comes to money in their lives.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“I learned that in many ways, my mind was my biggest obstacle to success. I chose not to entertain thoughts that did not empower me toward my vision of wealth.”
“If you want to change the fruits, you will first have to change the roots. If you want to change the visible, you must first change the invisible.”
“Money is a result, wealth is a result, health is a result, illness is a result, your weight is a result. We live in a world of cause and effect.”
Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant (Robert Kiyosaki)
Guide to Financial Freedom
The book Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant is a business and personal finance book written by Robert Kiyosaki. It provides a detailed comparison of the four cash flow quadrants, the four types of people in the business world. Where a person belongs in these quadrants is determined by cash flow source.
The author represents these quadrants by E-S-B-I or personas based on where people get their money from: Employed, Self-employed, Business owner and Investor.
The book has three parts:
- Part 1 – differentiates the people who belong to the four quadrants
- Part 2 – is more on personal change, working on who the reader wants to become
- Part 3 – shows the 7 steps to finding your financial fast track
In this book, Robert Kiyosaki encourages readers to shift quadrants from being an employee or self-employed to becoming a business owner or investor. He also explains that this book is for those who are already beyond job security and want to have a more financially-independent future.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
”For me, money is important, yet I did not want to spend my life working for it. That is why I did not want a job.”
“The important words are “generate income from.” It is not so much what we do, but more how we generate income.”
“Many successful people have left school without receiving a degree. A college education is important for traditional professions, but not for how these people found great wealth.”
Your Money or Your Life (Vicki Robin)
9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence
Your Money or Your Life is a personal finance book written by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez. The book is about how to live a richer life by changing your relationship with money.
This book is a must read for anyone who wants to escape the “money trap” and live a more fulfilling life. It is an eye opening book that will teach you how to be aware of the amount of energy you are trading for money.
The authors start by explaining the concept of “Money Trap” and how it can lead to burnout and stress. They then introduce the idea of that there is a way to approach life where your “job self” agrees with your “family self”.
The book emphasizes on how you should make decisions based on your values, not just what will make you the most money, which the authors calls “make a dying”. It encourages readers to live within their means and make saving a priority in order to invest for their future needs.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“It’s not about the money. It’s about the choice of where you direct your most precious resources: your time, your attention, and your life.”
“More is better turns out to be a formula for dissatisfaction. If you live for having it all, what you have is never enough.”
“Your success at being frugal is measured not by your penny-pinching but by your degree of enjoyment of the material world.”
Tax-Free Wealth (Tom Wheelwright)
How to Build Massive Wealth by Permanently Lowering Your Taxes
Tax-Free Wealth by Tom Wheelwright is a book that gives an overview of the tax system. It also shows how to legally avoid paying unnecessary taxes and have more money in your pocket.
The book has twenty four chapters divided into two parts:
- Part One—How the Tax Law can be your Best Friend
- Part Two—Your Strategy for Tax-Free Wealth
The book starts off by explaining how taxes steal your time, money, and future. It then clarifies how the tax law was made to shape the economy as an incentive for the wealthy to invest in economic activities that provide growth.
The author gives hope to readers by providing a better way to take advantage of the tax law by emulating the behavior of the wealthy, which allows them to reduce their taxes and increase their income.
The second part shows legal strategies on how to navigate the current tax system, with all its exemptions, and deductions.
It then goes on to show you the legal way to use government intended benefits to your advantage so you can save as much money as possible on your taxes. It also covers the benefits of making “tax friends” and building “tax shelters”.
This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to optimize their income and protect their wealth from unnecessary deductions that could be easily avoided by having the right information and the best strategies.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“Taxes don’t just take your money—they steal your time—because money is time.”
“All taxes are based on your facts and circumstances. So if you want to change your tax, change your facts. It’s that simple.”
“Put your time and talents into activities that produce jobs, housing, and grow the economy, and you get tax benefits.”
The Automatic Millionaire, Expanded and Updated (David Bach)
A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich
The Automatic Millionaire is a personal finance book that was written by David Bach. The book’s main focus is on how to gain financial freedom through saving money automatically.
It also shows the importance of paying yourself first, saving for the rainy day and having a debt-free lifestyle all made “automatic”.
In this groundbreaking book, Bach shows how readers can take control of their money—”the tortoise’s way” steadily and surely over the span of their work life.
Although this approach may look dull on others, The author assures the readers that this approach is a tried-and-tested way to financial independence, if given the chance to succeed over time.
The Automatic Millionaire gives readers the tools they need to stop worrying about their finances and start enjoying life today—and for years to come!
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“An investment plan that requires you to be disciplined and stick to a budget and write checks manually every couple of weeks simply will not work. You have a busy life.”
“And once your thinking has changed (about money), it will be easy to change your actions.”
“The one way to create lasting financial change that will help you build real wealth over time is to make your financial plan automatic!”
Quit Like a Millionaire (Kristy Chen and Bryce Leung)
No Gimmicks, Luck, or Trust Fund Required
Quit Like a Millionaire is a no-nonsense book by authors Kristy Chen and Bryce Leung about clawing their way from the bottom towards financial independence. It provides plenty of actionable advice and share an engaging account of their wealth-building process that may seem counterintuitive to some, but makes sense financially.
The book is divided into three parts:
- Poverty
- The Middle Class
- Becoming Wealthy
In the first part of the book, the author Kristy Chen shares her personal story growing up dirt-poor and in abject poverty in rural China. The lessons she learned in poverty ingrained in her a scarcity-mindset about money that allowed her to develop the CRAP qualities that made her successful today.
CRAP stands for:
- C-reativity
- R-esilience
- A-daptability
- P-erseverance
Quit Like a Millionaire is a strong motivational guide that teaches you like a wake-up call. It encourages you to get out of your comfort zone, stop making excuses and start doing the work because “No One’s Coming to Save You,”
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“Getting rich isn’t fast or easy. It is, however simple and reproducible.”
“If you understand money, life is incredibly easy. If you don’t understand money, life is incredibly hard.”
“At the end of the day, it isn’t about money, it’s about time—and how to use it wisely to live the best life possible.”
Set for Life (Scott Trench)
Dominate Life, Money, and the American Dream
Set for Life is personal finance book written by Scott Trench. It is a well-designed guide for the average wage earner wanting to take a path of early financial independence. It also provides a simple three-way formula to attain the American Dream.
The author Scott Trench, is an active real estate investor. He has written a book outlining a structure to follow for people to take charge of their financial future. He has been able to set himself up for life by following the steps he outlines in his book.
The book has a simple approach to wealth creation divided into three parts:
- Part 1 – The First $25,000 is the Hardest
- Part 2 – From $25,000 to $100,000 through Housing and Income Generation
- Part 3 – Moving from $100,000 to Financial Freedom
This book aims to give a hand to full-time middle income earners who lack any savings at all- but who have a strong desire to be financially free in their life.
In Set for Life, the reader may discover perspectives that are in contrast to what everyone in their life has, including family, friends, and co-workers. The author invites the reader to go against the norm and see if it’s worth it.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“If you want a different financial result, you need a different plan.”
“You must pursue a long-term goal based on your deep emotional desires. The strength of your desire to become financially free early in life is paramount to your success.”
“But, while many people are excited about making more money and learning to invest, few are willing to make the changes necessary to begin saving significantly more by cutting back on their current lifestyles.”
The Wealthy Gardener (John Soforic)
Life Lessons on Prosperity between Father and Son
The Wealthy Gardener is a hybrid book by John Soforic. The book is a wonderful blend of non-fiction and fiction, combined in harmony that are great for storytelling while providing lessons and insights.
The lessons are taught by parables followed with real-life anecdotes to provide a more enjoyable and engaging experience for the reader. This format comes from the author’s intention to teach his son valuable lessons about wealth, without sounding like a preacher with a tall order.
The author puts emphasis on the use of our time, especially on what he calls an ‘impact hour’. He believes that the seeds of success are what we put of in the hours of our days. An hour of doing the right things adds up to the accumulated body of work that leads to a significant outcome and moves us closer to our goals.
The Wealthy Gardener is a pleasant resource for anyone who wants to learn more about prosperity in life. The wisdom in the story-telling of anecdotes will refresh the reader with delightful lessons between father and son.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“Many things are indeed more important than money, but overcoming the ‘money problem’ allows us to focus on those important things. Without money and time, we wield little power over life.”
“When we’re faced with a problem that money can solve and we have the money to solve it, then we faced a trivial problem. But lacking this money, even the smallest of life’s problems can turn into the worst of life’s problems.”
“Be wary of those who tell you to be content with your condition in life. Only you can know the condition that will satisfy your soul. And only you can feel the pull of your ambition.”
“There is never a certainty of future rewards, but we go for it anyway, or we keep what we’ve got.”
Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement (Rachel Richards)
The Secret to Freedom, Flexibility, and Financial Independence
Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement is an early retirement guide book written by finance guru Rachel Richards who has walked the talk, quitting her job and retiring at 27.
In this book, Rachel Richards explores the different kinds of passive income that people can create throughout their lives. The book also discusses how one can use passive income to fund an aggressive retirement lifestyle.
The book is divided up into 7 sections with chapters within.
- Introducing the Secret to Financial Independence
- Royalty Income
- Portfolio Income
- Coin-Operated Machines
- Ads and E-commerce
- Rental Income
- Now What?
The author also covers topics such as royalties and coin-operated machines as sources of wealth building opportunities that don’t require much time or effort on the part of the investor. She also offers advice on diffusing self limiting beliefs that according to her “are for the birds”.
This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to achieve that Financial Independence, Retire Early status without penny-pinching or the joining any Multi-Level Marketing scheme. The author has outlined a string of tried-and-tested passive income stream models for the readers to choose and set up for themselves.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“I am positive that every single American adult has something to gain—not just financially, but emotionally—and mentally—from supplemental, self-sustaining income.”
“Let me be clear: Passive Income isn’t an easy way out. It’s not a walk in the park; it takes sweat equity and sometimes money to create.”
“Passive income isn’t all about quitting your job. The biggest benefits are: Freedom. Flexibility. Financial independence.”
The Financial Diet (Chelsea Fagan)
A Total Beginners Guide to Getting Good with Money
The Financial Diet is a book by Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hage. It’s a how-to-guide on getting good with money within a year. The book provides advice to help people achieve this goal by figuring out where they are financially and the steps they need to take to take control of their situation by starting small.
Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hage are the founders of The Financial Diet blog, which has amassed over 1 million readers in just two years. They are dedicated to helping people live better lives by changing their relationship with money.
The authors talk about their personal experiences, as well as their research on the financial habits of others. They provide not only savings and retirement tips, but self-care rewards and treats when you hit financial milestones.
The Financial Diet is a book that teaches readers how to develop that “delayed-gratification muscle” to save money in order to have a choice in life, to live intentionally and thoughtfully, with the skills to handle life’s financial curveballs. It’s a book that inspires deeper personal change in the reader into becoming the kind of person who is “good with money”.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“Saving money isn’t about depriving yourself. It’s about deciding you love Future You as much as you love Today You.”
“Being smart with money isn’t just about what you put in the bank, it’s about everything from the clothes you put in your closet to the food you put in your kitchen (and actually cook, instead of ordering Seamless…again).”
“Money without a budget is like champagne without a glass.”
“The way we live today dictates everything about the kind of life we will have tomorrow, and even though this cliché was a painful one for me to accept, a dollar not wasted is just as good as a dollar earned.”
Smart Couples Finish Rich – Revised and Updated (David Bach)
9 Steps to Creating a Rich Future for You and Your Partner
Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach is a book that helps couples build wealth together. It provides up to date practical advice for couples to make smart money decisions, achieve their financial goals, and overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of their success.
This book talks about how to deal with money and finances in a relationship and how to make smart decisions that will lead you towards financial stability.
This book is divided into nine steps which compose the chapters. Included are topics about the facts and myths about couples and money, the true purpose on money in a couples life and a couple’s retirement basket.
Smart Couples Finish Rich is a must read for all married couples. It’s one of the best books written to help couples get on the right financial track and make smart decisions, not only to avoid financial mistakes, but also to achieve their dream life.
The author encourages couples to plan their financial journey as one. He believes that “the couple that plans together wins together”.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“Repeat after me: love has nothing to do with money. It doesn’t matter if you love your spouse or partner more than anything in the world.”
“It’s not what you know about money— it’s what you don’t know that can wipe you out.”
“The truth is that most couples don’t have an income problem; what they have is a spending problem.”
“Here’s another important part of Finishing Rich that many couple overlook: it’s not just about the money.”
“A dollar is still worth a lot of money…if it’s forced to grow up!”
The One Minute Millionaire (Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G. Allen)
The Enlightened Way to Wealth
The One Minute Millionaire is a two-in-one story book by Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G. Allen. It is composed of the non-fiction ‘The One Minute Millionaire Lessons’ and “Michelle’s Story: The Enlightened Way to Wealth,” a story of a fictional heroine implementing the philosophies written in the book.
This book not only gives readers a path to wealth, it also wants to enlighten the reader. The author’s goal is not only to make readers rich, but to also make them a better employee, a better family member, a better friend, and a better member of the community.
The book shares the three point approach to wealth by “The Enlightened Millionaire”:
- Do no harm.
- Do much good.
- Operate out of stewardship.
The authors also believe in the “butterfly effect”, and that with just a few minutes every week and an investment of a few dollars in the right places, the reader can become financially successful.
The One Minute Millionaire is an inspirational journey to wealth, with a degree of enlightenment for the reader. It’s a book infused with condensed stand-alone lessons for the reader to use as a system guide, into becoming a millionaire in a short period of time.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“No matter your present circumstances, the first step to making your first million is the commitment to become a millionaire.”
“You are the fruit of the thoughts you have planted and nourished. If you want a better harvest, you must plant better thoughts.”
“Money, by itself, is neither good or bad—it’s neutral. Money is an energy tool. Like a hammer, money can be used to build or to destroy.”
5 Day Weekend (Nik Halik)
Freedom to Make Your Life and Work Rich with Purpose
5 Day Weekend is a book written by Nik Halik with guest writer Garrett B. Gunderson. The author aims to give you empowerment in one of the most important aspects of your life. The freedom to walk away by having more and better choices. Choices that allow you to design your lifestyle.
The book starts with some strategies for the reader to explore and select from whatever ideas spark their interest. It also shows the reader the big picture scenario and some call to action to implement the principles of the book should the reader decide to follow through.
The book is divided into seven parts, each one covering a different area of strategy. The author has tailored these mindset and strategies to fit the readers’ strengths, interests, and unique circumstances.
- Part 1: The Big Idea – 3 More Days of Freedom
- Part 2: The Foundation – Keep More Money
- Part 3: Income Growth – Make More Money
- Part 4: Wealth Creation – Grow More Money
- Part 5: The Journey – Power Up!
- Part 6: Freedom Lifestyle – Live Your Purpose
- Part 7: Outside the Box – Push the Boundaries
The 5 Day Weekend is a practical guide book that has been tested and applied by the author in his personal life as a musician. It shares the roadmap to the reader’s personal choice of destination. It is not for those who aspire for a safe and secure 9-5 job with benefits.
quotes from the book
“You don’t invest in retirement. You eliminate retirement and choose to love life. You never fully retire. Instead, you retire from the things you hate and embrace living a life you love.”
“Academia is simply a factory assembly plant for the sole purpose of producing taxpayers and providing an apprenticeship path to a job. The academic system is built to create employees, not entrepreneurs.”
“The ultimate quantification of success is not how much time you spend doing what you love. It’s how little time you spend doing what you hate.”
“Job security is a myth. Taking your destiny into your own hands and learning how to become independent through your own initiative, innovation, and tenacity is ultimately the only security you have.”
The Millionaire Master Plan (Roger James Hamilton)
Your Personalized Path to Financial Success
The Millionaire Master Plan is a book by Roger James Hamilton. The book is about how to become a millionaire using the innate natural genius that already exists in each and every individual.
The book starts by identifying the category of genius you belong to, in order to capitalize on, by figuring out your genius category, you’ll be able to find the natural flow to the Millionaire path.
Hamilton believes, the more individuals get flow by following their natural innate genius, the more they grow and the more wealth they create.
In this book, Roger James Hamilton educates readers on how to become millionaires by following his three-part step process:
- Your Natural Path
- The Foundation Prism
- The Enterprise Prism and Beyond
The Millionaire Master Plan is an instructional guide book that encourages the reader to work with their existing best self. Their natural genius. This guidebook can help the reader achieve their future successful selves by visualizing in hindsight and gratitude.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“When we become aware of our natural genius, it’s like a light going on. Suddenly we realize we do not need to focus on our weaknesses to be successful. We simply need to follow a path that plays to our natural strengths.”
“Direction is different from information. Information is the entire map. Direction is how you get from A to B. In today’s information economy, you don’t need more information. You need direction.”
“Your Future Vision is about more than just setting goals, more than just visualization. It is about creating a holistic blueprint of what you believe your life will grow into in one year—an immediate future in your control.”
Tribe of Millionaires (David Osborn and Pat Hiban)
What If One Choice Could Change Everything?
Tribe of Millionaires is a book that talks about the power of a group. It is written by David Osborn and Pat Hiban. The book aims to develop accountability and take advantage of other people’s natural abilities and form a powerful support group that can withstand tough times.
The authors of the book have gained success by developing systems and processes designed to take advantage of the power of small groups. They talk about how you can do this too, with the help of their experience.
The book is told in a parable-like story based on real-life changes that can happen when a group enhances each other’s lives. It is also about transforming values and living life to its fullest while providing valuable contributions to a group.
Tribe of Millionaires is a book that shows the power of a group helping to achieve success, relative to an individual doing it all alone. The authors have compiled a list of principles in this fictional story that they believe will help anyone become wealthy and successful.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“No matter what you think you can do alone (or better yet, what you think you can’t), you can do it faster, better, easier, and–best of all–more happily, with others.”
“The power of like-minded people to do more than you ever could alone–not just in business, but in your health, your relationships, and your lasting legacy here on the planet.”
“The most powerful of environmental influences is the people around you. The people you choose to surround yourself with can be an anchor that holds you back, or sail that moves you forward; the choice is yours.”
Financial Freedom: My Only Hope (Jeremiah Brown)
THE BESTSELLING GUIDE TO MASTERING THE ‘GAME OF MONEY’
Financial Freedom: My Only Hope is a book by Jeremiah Brown that provides financial enlightenment through practical wisdom and real-world applications, that result in the mastery of the game of money.
The author starts the book by uncovering that everyone is already a player in the money game, regardless of whether they like it or not. He points out that many people don’t know about this but most people find themselves playing the game over and over again.
Brown believes that the things that we don’t know are what keeps us from advancing through life and achieve our financial goals. He intends to correct that by sharing real-world practices in his book.
Financial Freedom is a book that not only inspires the reader’s financial awakening, it also motivates the readers to ‘walk the path’ and not just know it.
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
“We live in a society that struggles to think outside the box. A society that accepts what it hears and sees as truth and cannot comprehend any possibilities or variables outside the realm of what its knows to be.”
“It amazes me how these pieces of paper, derived from trees, have the power to grant power and influence how one is perceived in this world.”
“I remember my mother telling me as a child that money doesn’t grow on trees. The truth is, she was right. Our modern banking system creates currency far faster than trees can grow!”
“Many of us have a “work hard and spend” mentality and are trained to think emotionally about money and possessions.”
Enter the Book Wormhole
This list of business books is just a small sampling of the hundreds of passive income books available for aspiring entrepreneurs like you (and me). The very best place to get started is this main post on the Dumb Passive Income blog – 31 of the Best Passive Income Books for Timeless Inspiration. I hope you enjoy and I’ll see you on the other side!
Alvin Medalla
